First responders must find ways to address a new challenge: Not only do they have to deal with floods, storms, fires, earthquakes, active shooter events, and other natural and manmade crises – now they also have to find ways to deal with fake news. Social media may disseminate valuable and helpful information during disasters and extreme events – but it may also be used to spread fake news: disinformation and misinformation about the scope, nature, and sources, and location of a disaster or extreme incident. Such misinformation may not only confuse victims and potential victims, but also confuse and mislead first responders who rush to their rescue.

First responders must find ways to address a new challenge: Not only do they have to deal with floods, storms, fires, earthquakes, active shooter events, and other natural and manmade crises – now they also have to find ways to deal with fake news.

Social media may disseminate valuable and helpful information during disasters and extreme events – but it may also be used to spread fake news: disinformation and misinformation about the scope, nature, and sources, and location of a disaster or extreme incident. Such misinformation may not only confuse victims and potential victims, but also confuse and mislead first responders who rush to their rescue.

Motivation Social media technologies have allowed individuals and organizations to share information with their peers and specific audiences for over fifteen years.1 Information typically is shared with good intent; however, some share information as a means to further an ulterior agenda. This includes rumors, false information, and misinformation (e.g., deception, propaganda, and malicious spamming).

Researchers have identified different characteristics of information that lead to alternative, fake reality, and suspicious behavior.2,4 Characteristics of false information include uncertainty in the facts, emotional exploitation to a situation, trending topic discussions for hijacking conversations, as well as attractive financial offer scams, among others.3,4,5

An example of false information with these characteristics is deceptive content with a malicious agenda, diverting a user towards a goal of advertising or phishing by coordinated social campaigns.6 Such campaigns are also used to lead a user to believe in a fake negative opinion to damage an object’s reputation; for example, fake reviews on online e-commerce websites, such as Amazon or Yelp.7 Likewise, deceptive false information has been plotted in large-scale disasters for financial gains by lucrative scam information.8 False information with a malicious agenda has long existed in the form of propaganda, which has been used by terror organizations as a tactic to recruit.9